- ONEOK Field
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ONEOK Field 
Location 201 North Elgin Avenue
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. 74120Coordinates 36°9′35″N 95°59′17″W / 36.15972°N 95.98806°WCoordinates: 36°9′35″N 95°59′17″W / 36.15972°N 95.98806°W Broke ground December 19, 2008 Opened April 8, 2010 Owner Tulsa Stadium Trust Operator Tulsa Drillers Surface Grass Construction cost $39.2 million
($39.2 million in 2011 dollars[1])Architect Populous Project Manager Stonebridge Group, LLC.[2] Structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti[3] General Contractor Manhattan Construction Company[4] Capacity 7,833[5] Field dimensions Left field – 330 feet (101 m)
Left-center – 381 feet (116 m)
Center field – 400 feet (122 m)
Right-center – 371 feet (113 m)
Right field – 307 feet (94 m)[6]Tenants Tulsa Drillers (2010–present) ONEOK Field (pronounced /ˈwʌnoʊk/ wun-ohk[7]) is a baseball park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Located in the historic Greenwood district adjacent to downtown Tulsa, it is the home of the Tulsa Drillers of the AA Texas League.
A view of ONEOK Field from the outfield.
The Drillers, who then played at Drillers Stadium on the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, began looking for a replacement ballpark in about 1998; at one point they signed a non-binding letter of intent to move to the Tulsa suburb of Jenks, before efforts by then-Tulsa mayor Kathy Taylor and others led to the Drillers deciding to proceed with a downtown stadium.[8] The Drillers announced the move on June 26, 2008. The future of the stadium was for a time threatened by the financial collapse of its largest donor, SemGroup.[9] However, groundbreaking for the new ballpark went forward on December 19, 2008.[10] On January 12, 2009, ONEOK, Inc. and the Oneok Foundation announced that they would pay $5 million USD to obtain the 20-year naming rights for the new baseball park.[11]
The Drillers played their first game in the new ballpark on Thursday, April 8, 2010, losing 7-0 to the Corpus Christi Hooks before a crowd of 8,665 (more than 800 over official capacity).[12] The first pitch at the stadium was thrown by country music star, Tim McGraw.
ONEOK Field was designed by architect firm Populous (formerly HOK Sport Venue Event) of Kansas City, Missouri and constructed by Manhattan Construction Company. The stadium has an official capacity of 7,833, but is capable of holding up to 9,000 for special events.[5] (On May 7, 2010, the stadium had a reported record attendance of 9,417 for a Bedlam Series game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State University Cowboys.[13]) It has 23 suites[14] and a playing field recessed about 13 feet below street level. With a construction cost of $39.2 million, the project also included the purchase of adjacent land for complementary development, for a total project budget of $60 million.
View of the Tulsa skyline from behind the ONEOK Field home plate.The new ballpark was intended to be more directly connected to its urban surroundings than was the old stadium at the fairgrounds, and also to have many of the same kinds of luxury amenities available in a major-league ballpark, both for fans and for the players and coaches.[15][16]
References
- ^ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 7, 2010.
- ^ http://www.stonebridgegroup.net/index.cfm?id=5
- ^ "ONEOK Field". News. Thornton Tomasetti. April 14, 2010. http://www.thorntontomasetti.com/news/spotlight/122-oneok_field. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
- ^ http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2009/04/20090419/Building-For-The-Future/Minor-League-Stadiums.aspx
- ^ a b Barry Lewis, "Drillers Fest at ONEOK Field scheduled for April 3", Tulsa World, March 22, 2010.
- ^ Lewis, Barry (2010-02-10). "Watch a video tour of ONEOK Field". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2010-04-06. http://www.webcitation.org/5onBq4Lh7. Retrieved 2010-04-06. "Field dimensions from home plate will be 330 feet to left field, 381 to left-center, 400 to center, 371 to right-center and 307 to right field."
- ^ http://www.oneok.com/NewsRoom/MediaKits/ImageCampaign.aspx
- ^ Steve Hunt, "New Tulsa Park Proves Worth The Wait", Baseball America, March 19, 2010.
- ^ Tulsa World: Drillers site: Greenwood
- ^ *"City breaks ground on downtown ballpark," Tulsa World, December 19, 2008.
- ^ "Baseball park named Oneok Field," Tulsa World, January 13, 2009.
- ^ Barry Lewis, "Downtown debut: Drillers lose first game at new ONEOK Field: Sellout crowd of 8,665 more than 800 over capacity watch ONEOK Field opener", Tulsa World, April 9, 2010.
- ^ John E. Hoover, "OU downs OSU in front of record crowd", Tulsa World, May 7, 2010.
- ^ P.J. Lassek, "Videos: Drillers offer suite spots at new baseball stadium. The downtown stadium will include 23 luxury suites." Tulsa World, August 2, 2009.
- ^ Kevin Canfield, "Diamond dazzles: ONEOK Field, BOK Center draw crowds", Tulsa World, April 9, 2010.
- ^ John Klein, "Rockies official: ONEOK Field is major league", Tulsa World, April 9, 2010.
External links
Current ballparks in the Texas League North Division South Division Categories:- Texas League ballparks
- Sports venues in Oklahoma
- Minor league baseball venues
- Sports in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Baseball venues in Oklahoma
- Buildings and structures completed in 2010
- Buildings and structures in Tulsa, Oklahoma
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